It's okay to ask
by Zukuto
Summary: Follow the adventure of Sarah the F!LW and her transfer from Vault Girl to Wasteland Wanderer. Can she do it? No survival training, no weapons training no... nothing. How does a girl go from painting nails to maintaining weapons. It's a massive jump and Sarah isn't sure she can survive in this cruel, sadistic world. Warning: Rated M for adult themes later in the story.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi there!_

_So I've been going through a phase of reading stories about Butch and I felt that I wanted to have a go at one myself.  
This story features around the dynamic between Butch and F!LW. I always wondered what it would be like if there was an opposites attract kind of relationship. The main point of this story will still centre around the main plot line but the eventual relationship between the two will hopefully spice it up a bit. I don't want to focus on the main line straight away so I wanted to explore what life in the Vault was like before James buggered off and screwed everything up._

_Please enjoy, I apologise if I've missed any grammar/spelling mistakes and if it's not your kinda story that's cool too. Each to their own. I'm enjoying writing it so I hope you like reading it._

The Vault had never been the most exciting of places but since passing the G.O.A.T it had gotten a hell of a lot worse. Sarah was fed up. It was as simple as that. She hadn't thought there was any real consequence to filling out that stupid test randomly, she hadn't thought her dad had been serious when he told her to actually pay attention. All they ever learnt was how to be good Vaultians! Really, what kind of question was:

_'You discover a young boy lost in the lower levels of the Vault. He's hungry and frightened, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do?"_ **__**

Really?! What would she do? Well, first off why was she wandering the lower levels? How did the boy get there? Why was it **her** finding the boy and where the heck was Vault Security? Pissin' around the main foyer most likely! Apparently Mr Brotch hadn't been impressed with her answer:

_'Pick the boy's pocket to take the stolen property for yourself, and leave the boy to his fate'._

Her answers were all along a similar random line and that was how she had ended up here. The Vault's Pedicurist. It was the job from hell. No question about it. Day in, day out, she had to listen to all the stupid goings on and gossip from the Vault residents who graced her door. Sarah sighed heavily as she laid out her equipment for the day. She could still hear Mr Brotch's laughter ringing in her ears from all those years ago.

_"__It's nice to know I can still be surprised. Pedicurist! I might have guessed Manicurist or even Masseuse. But apparently you're a foot person."_

Fantastic. Just fan-fucking-tastic. So, ever since that day she'd been stuck here in the old beauty clinic that hadn't been used in God knows how long spending her days smiling and fulfilling her Vault duties.

Bull.

Now Sarah's days consisted of applying nail polish, promoting good nail care and decorating ugly nails and trying to make even the most stubby and knobbly seem lovely. It was a tough job but her own stupidity got her here. Not that she was just a Pedicurist! Oh no, as there was no other kind of beauty technician here she'd set about learning it all. How to massage, how to do a good manicure, how to apply facials. Blah, blah, blah. Not like there had been anything better to do so why not learn and make the most of her time. Each morning Sarah got up, scraped her long hazel hair up into a presentable pony tail, applied a tiny bit of make up to her pale skin and threw on her beauty uniform over her Vault suit. The silver lining to this job? She wasn't up at stupid o'clock like some of the other residents who worked in the likes of engineering or the food service. They were up making sure the generators were functioning, the air filtration wasn't on the fritz and making the food for all the other residents. Not there were that many residents left these days. Sarah couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for those jobs back when the vault was filled to the brim. When the whole Vault was used and not just parts of it. Now, there was just a scattering of Vault residents and a very small gene pool.

Once all of her equipment was out and set up Sarah set about reading one of the old Pre-War beauty guides whilst waiting for her first customer of the day. It didn't take long. Around an hour after opening her shop door flew open and Amata and Susie Mack walked through, smiles plastered on their faces as they laughed at some private joke between the two of them.

"Hey Sarah!" Amata called out cheerfully, reaching out to give her friend a hug.

Sarah liked Amata, she really did, but she could be a little overbearing. Especially after getting placed on the Supervisory track. Everyone knew she was lined up to be the next Overseer so you'd think she'd tone done the hard work a bit, but no, not Amata.

"Hi Amata, hey Suzie, what brings you two down my neck of the woods?"

Not that Sarah really cared but she had to at least act like her job right? Suzie was alright. A little bit soft for Sarah's liking but a nice enough girl. She was on the education path and was going to be a good teacher, Sarah knew this. She was patient, kind, a little stuck but that was okay. She was also polite and actually acknowledged Sarah's presence unlike a lot of her clients so that was something.

Susie smiled at her, her white teeth sparkling in the soft light.

"Hello Sarah, business doing well?"

Shrugging, she gesture the two girls to sit down in the beauty chairs. They weren't anything special, just part of an old booth that was destined for the incinerator. It had taken her awhile but Sarah had managed to get the chairs looking good as new and now formed part of her shop. The two girls took their seats and let Sarah get on with their treatments. She listened to the two of them gossip over trivial things; how work was, the food in the Vault lately and most importantly, boys. There wasn't much choice down in the Vault and it was every residents civic duty to keep the blood line going so finding a partner who worked well with you was important. Not to mention one you weren't too closely related to. Sarah shuddered, that thought was really disturbing. For whatever reason she had next to no other family in the Vault, no one spoke of it so she'd always assumed there'd been some kind of accident but it did make her happy in situations like this. It would be gross to have to marry her cousin or something along those lines.

"... I heard that Freddie asked you to dinner recently Susie, is it true?!"

Sarah had been drifting in and out of the conversation as she had started the ex foliation portion of Amata's treatment. At the news she dropped her pumice stone into the basin of water. This _**was**_ news! It was well known that Freddie has never shown an interest in anyone. Not her, not Amata, not Paul... for the longest time they'd thought he was broken.

Susie blushed, tucking a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yeah he asked me the other night. He was very nice about the whole thing".

Sarah gaped at Susie, not caring that her mouth was hanging open. This was definitely the most interesting thing she'd heard in awhile and that was all she was getting? Bull. Shit.

"Oh no Mack! You don't get to just say that little bit and then you two move on to talking about God only knows what. I have to listen to nonsense everyday in here. I want details and I want it all!"

The afternoon went by pretty quick, it had been almost enjoyable. Her clients came and went and thankfully it was a quick day. Cleaning up as quick as she could, Sarah gathered up her belongings and exited out into the stale Vault corridors and waited for the door to close behind her so she could look up. The hall was identical to all the other halls but Sarah quite liked hers. It was a little off from the main centre of the Vault and other than her shop there was only one other facility near by. Sadly the occupant was not a favourable one. The other shop was the Vault Barbers, run by Butch DeLoria. The bane of Sarah's life. They'd come along way from hair pulling and name calling but the two of them still didn't get along. To be fair, they hadn't really spoken since the G.O.A.T when they found out their respective careers. At the start, Sarah had been naïve enough to think that maybe having similar jobs would maybe build some sort of bridge between them but so far nothing. Sarah had never even been to him for a hair cut, she stuck to her own blunt scissors. But she had seen Butch's work and she had to reluctantly admit that it was really good. That didn't even do it justice, his work was great, amazing even, not that she'd ever tell him. Locking up, Sarah turned and made her way slowly down the hall, not in any rush to get back to her quarters, and ran through her work for the day. She was still interested in the whole Freddie and Susie situation and was dying to know more about it. How had it come about? Did Susie know about his Vault Depression Syndrome? Sarah hoped so 'cause V.A.D was hard to live with. Turning a corner she spotted the door to the clinic and peaked her head round the open door to see if her dad was still there. Sitting at the terminal in the corner was not her father but Jonas. Sarah smiled slyly to herself, Jonas hadn't noticed her yet and this had hilarity written all over it. Slowly, Sarah made her way into the clinic, trying very hard to control the squeak of her shoes on the floor. She kept her breathing even and her movements slow and precise, no wasted step. It didn't take long for her to end up almost directly behind Jonas, she was so close she could see the fine details of his face; his laughter lines, the slight greying to his hair and she could see the computer screen as he typed away. Reading over his shoulder she caught snippets of text;

'_Experiment went well for batch A-32 but A-33 failed quickly. Doc says we need access to a bigger facility like he had before here. A-33 had been promising at the start but sometimes that old saying 'too good to be true' holds some truth to it. It would be great if we could recreate 'Project Purity' here in the Vault on a small, successful scale.'_

Project Purity? What was that. Sarah scrunched up her face in slight confusion. She'd never heard of any sort of project and her Dad told her about everything that was going on. Getting lost in reading the text on the screen Sarah had completely forgot about jumping out and scaring Jonas and it wasn't long before he noticed her looming behind him. As he turned and locked eye contact with her it was as if Jonas had seen a ghost. His eyes grew wide and he practically flew backwards out of his chair in an effort to shut the computer monitor off.

"Sarah! Jesus, you startled me! What the hell were you doing standing behind me like that?"

Had she not been feeling slighted at being left out of one of her dad's experiments she would have laughed at Jonas' state. He seemed shaken and edgy and normally that would have been funny but right now her brain was elsewhere.

"What's Project Purity?" she asked, fixing Jonas with her gaze, her hazel eyes piercing his own.

"It's just an experiment of the Doc's. You know what he's like Sarah, he's always stretching the boundaries".

Sarah frowned as Jonas danced around her question.

"He talks to me about all his experiments. **You** **know** what dad's like, he's always stretching the boundaries and proud to do so." She said throwing his words back at him.

She wasn't sure why this bothered her so much. It was just an experiment but she couldn't help but feel it was important. Why wouldn't either of them have spoken to her about it? God knows their work was more interesting that hers'. As Jonas stumbled over his words and excuses Sarah decided she'd had enough. Turning on her heels she stormed out amidst Jonas' background protests. She was so angry she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, all that mattered was getting away from the clinic. It really had nothing to do with her and yet here she was throwing a tantrum like a five year old who'd had their favourite Grognak comic taken from them. Down the corridors she twisted and turned, lost in her thoughts until she walked straight into something solid with such speed that she was knocked off her feet.

"Ouch! What the-"

Glancing up to see what she had walked into Sarah was greeted with the beady eyes of one, very familiar, green snake. The snake was twisting up the back of a leather jacket, the forked tongue giving it a sinister looking effect from down on the floor. There were few people this snake could be on the back off, fewer still who would be down at this level of the Vault. With slow deliberate moves the owner of the jacket turned to face Sarah sitting on the floor. The strong jawline, salo skin and dark hair that was styled just so. That pompous 'greaser' style worn by all Tunnel Snakes irked her as soon as she saw it, that random curl of hair at the front that she just wanted to pull on. The iron pressed frown that she was so use to seeing being thrown her way.

Standing above her was Butch DeLoria.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Escape! (Edited)

Tunnel Snake.

Fucking Tunnel Snake.

Of all the people she could have run into why did it have to be Butch?

"The hell you doing nosebleed?"

Uck she hated that nickname! One time he broke her nose and he never let her forget it.

"Well I was walking but clearly I'm now sitting".

That was her retort? Man that was lame, inwardly she cursed herself. Butch didn't even bother to respond, he just raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow in her direction.

"Whatever you say nosebleed"

And with that he left. No nasty comment, no foul language just that parting sentence and he wondered off.

Sarah wasn't sure what had just happened. Butch had been so un 'Butch like' that she just sat there for a moment in shock. Sure, it had been awhile since her and Butch had spoke but surely he hadn't changed that much. Couldn't have. This didn't make any sense. Hauling herself up off the floor, Sarah listened as Butch's footsteps echoed along the corridor and started off in the opposite direction. He'd looked different. More mature. He had strong, sharp features that she'd never really appreciated till that moment at his feet. His blue eyes were piercing and his shoulders looked broader than she remembered. When did Butch get handsome? She'd have to learn to start paying attention to what was going on in the Vault from now on.

Her alarm was blaring before Sarah could fully appreciate her nights sleep. It was morning already?

Shit.

Groaning, she pulled herself from beneath the haven that was her sheets and forced herself into the shower. The cold water was like a slap to the face and Sarah called out in discomfort. Why could nobody get the water temperature right?! The world could blow itself up but tepid water wasn't possible? Typical. Racking her still damp hair up into a pony tail and tossing her white beauty coat on over her jumpsuit Sarah headed off towards the canteen to grab toast before opening up shop for the day. She was a little earlier than normal as she was determined to reach the food whilst it was still warm. Lost in day dreams of warm toast baked by Mrs Palmer and a hot cup of coffee Sarah wasn't paying attention to those already in the canteen. In fact, it wasn't until she was sat down she realised that the only other person in the canteen, other than Andy of course, was Butch. Sarah nearly chocked on her coffee. Two days in a row? How the hell was this even possible?! They'd managed two years without seeing each other and now they couldn't go two days?

Fucking bull shit.

Glancing up from behind her piece of toast as she went to take a bite, she could get a clear look at Butch. Whilst she couldn't stop watching him, Butch clearly didn't give two tosses about her. Wasn't even looking at her. Sarah wasn't really sure why but she felt a little disappointed at this. Attempting to ignore the desire to continue to watch Butch, Sarah ideally flipped through her Pip-Boy glancing at the notes she'd made for today. A few booked in but nothing spectacular.

It was gonna be a long day.

Nothing says you were right like the feeling of boredom. All of her clients hadn't shown. All of them. Sarah was left with nothing to do but clean, dust and clean some more. It gave her plenty of time to allow her thoughts to wander, especially to Project Purity. She hadn't seen her dad recently and she had a lot of questions which no doubt she'd get very few answers for. Jonas had never been secretive with her before so why start now? She knew the Overseerer had disapproved of many of their experiments in the past so perhaps this was another one they were trying to keep low key? God only knew. As the hours whittled by and Sarah counted down the minutes she felt a great rush of relief when her door flew open. Glancing up with her ready made smile already on her face, Sarah nearly choked when she spotted Butch standing in the doorway. What the hell was he doing in her shop? He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame slightly, two mugs of coffee in his hands.

"Figured you'd want this. You never leave during the day."

He watched her closely, his gaze made her skin feel like it was burning slightly. The way his dirty blonde hair fell to the front annoyed her and intrigued her all the same. Without muttering another sentence Butch placed one of the mugs down on the nearest counter before turning and leave, the door closing behind him, as if nothing had happened. Gingerly Sarah made her way over to the mug and picked it up, cupping it gently in both hands. It was warm, smelled fresh and looked appealing. Taking a small sip, in case Butch had put something in it, Sarah tasted it. It was one of the best cups of coffee she'd ever had.

Her day passed quickly and it wasn't long before Sarah was locking up the shop and making her way to the clinic in hopes of seeing her Dad. She wanted to ask him about Project Purity but maybe there was a reason that he hadn't spoke to her about it. As Sarah turned into the clinic she caught sight of Jonas hunched over his computer again. Her Dad was no where in sight.

"Hey Jonas" Sarah called out.

Jonas jumped from his position slightly. He looked nervous but smiled broadly at her once he realised who had called out his name.

"Oh, hey Sarah! I didn't hear you come in. How are you? Good day?" he asked apprehensively.

Sarah chuckled, he was clearly still worried about her slight temper tantrum yesterday.

"I'm good Jonas. It was dead today. How was the clinic?"

"It was okay. A little busy in the afternoon but after that it was okay. No accidents today so that's always good you know?"

Sarah simply nodded in reply. Making her way across the room she pulled out the chair on the opposite of his desk and threw herself upon it, practically sighing in relief at getting to relax.

"Listen Jonas, I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sure you and Dad would tell me what you were up to if you felt it was worthwhile. It's not like you guys come snooping for my pedicure techniques". She grinned wickedly at him as he chuckled nervously.

"I wouldn't dream of trying to compete against you Sarah and God help any poor souls that have to in the future!"

"Damn straight you do!"

The two of them chatted idly for awhile. Sarah liked Jonas. He was a good guy. He was kind, respectful and once you got to know him he was a real laugh. Jonas had been a big part of her life since she was small. Kind of like the big brother she'd never had.

"Have you seen my Dad recently? I feel like he's never around these days".

"He's around. He's just real busy at the moment. Don't worry. His schedule will clear up soon. Promise kiddo".

Sarah smiled gently.

"Thanks Jonas. I'm gonna turn in now. Don't be up too late okay?"

He simply chuckled as he turned back to his computer monitor. That guy was gonna work right through the night she just knew it.

Sarah sighed in relief as she pulled her long hair free from the pony tail she'd managed to keet it in all day. Her scalp was agony and if it wasn't for the fact the only hairdresser in the place was that fucking Tunnel Snake she'd go and get it all chopped off. Massaging her scalp gently as she made her way through to the small kitchenette Sarah thought about what she would make herself to eat. All the Pre War rations were disgusting but hey a girls gotta eat right? She thought about all the amazing food advertisements that were in her Vanity magazines in her salon that always looked wonderful. Fresh fruit, chocolate, ice cream... God what she'd do to try ice cream! An obnoxious bleeping sound pulled her from her thoughts as she glanced down at her Pip Boy. Bringing the unit up to her face Sarah took a closer look and found she had a note from Amata.

So, I'm sitting in the canteen talking with the girls and what do I overhear? Some stupid tunnel snakes having a conversation. What are they having a conversation about? Us girls! Rating us on how 'bangable' we are! Disgusting. So your name comes up and before they even get to throw out a rating Butch calls aholt to the game. Says your off limits or something like that. Wanna tell me what that's about?

What the hell? Sarah had no idea what that was all about. Pulling up her response she typed:

Not a fucking clue.

Without even a minute passing by her Pip Boy blared again.

Eloquent as always.

Smiling she closed down the message function and started getting ready for bed. It had been a really weird day and she was ready for it to be over with. As she drifted off to sleep she could help but wonder if perhaps she should confront Butch about his behaviour tomorrow?

Klaxons were blearing in and out of Sarah's dream and she was convinced there was someone shaking her.

"Wake up! Come on, wake up!"

What the hell?

Sarah tried to roll over onto her side, tugging her blanket further around her when someone yanked the blanket from her warm grasp.

"Come on!" The voice called out desperately. "You've got to wake up!"

"Amata?" Sarah called out groggily. Was she still dreaming? "What's wrong?"

"Sarah you've got to get up! Please, you've got to get out of here! Your Dad is gone and my father's men are looking for you!"

Sarah was so confused. What the hell was Amata talking about? Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she pushed herself up from her bed and started to feel the gears in her brain begin to turn at last.

"What do you mean by my Dad is 'gone'?"

By now Amata had grabbed one of her Vault issued shoulder bags and was throwing items inside it; clothes, stimpaks, BB pellets... what the hell was she doing?!

"He's left the Vault! I don't know how but he's gone and my father..." Amata's voice began to falter. Amata never faltered. It was one of the things Sarah liked most about her. "He's kind of gone crazy".

"Amata.." Sarah reached over the grabbed the other girl's arm, stopping her in the frantic dash around the room.

"I've never seen you so upset. What's happened?"

At this Amata's voice caught in her throat. She was clearly trying not to cry.

"It's Jonas. They've killed him! My father's men. They took him and... Oh my God you have to leave and now!"

Sarah stared in disbelief, her brain still struggling to process what she was being told.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" she asked, grabbing her friend and pulling her into a tight hug.

Amata laughed bitterly.

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. I know Jonas was your friend but we've got to go, now. My father's men will be here any minute."

Nodding numbly Sarah quickly gathered up a few more supplies that Amata had missed. She slung her BB gun that dad and Jonas made for her tenth birthday on her back and grabbed the baseball bat from the side of her dresser. It had been years since it was lasted used and Sarah hoped it wouldn't be used again today.

"I still don't understand..." Sarah folded up the only photo she had of her dad and her and placed it inside one of the pockets on her Vault suit. "My Dad can't have left. The door is sealed shut". Quickly pulling her long hair up into a pony tail, as if she was starting any old regular day, she followed Amata out into the living room.

Amata turned to look at her, confused written across her face.

"Didn't he tell you he was leaving?"

"No he didn't mention anything to me."

Amata reached over the gripped her Sarah in what may have meant to be a supportive gesture.

"Oh. I' sorry. I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was suppose to explain everything to you?"

"Maybe..."

"Look, it doesn't matter now. I can help you escape. I have my own plan!"

Sarah raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow in speculation.

"Escape the vault? How?"

"Listen. There's a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it. Use these to get into his office. That's how I always get in."

Amata threw a set of bobby pins over to Sarah.

"What are you doing sneaking into... never mind, know what? I don't wanna know. It sounds like a good plan though! Let's get out of here."

Amata nodded and the two girls quickly started making their way down the hall. There was noise everywhere. People were yelling, shots were ringing out and Sarah was conviced she could hear the scuttling of radroaches.

"Oh one more thing. I stole my father's pistol. I hope you won't need it, but you'd better take it just in case."

"Thanks. I hope I won't have to either."

As they reached the end of the first hall Amata spun round the look at her friend. Her dark eyes were full of a mix of determination and sorrow.

"I'll try to meet you at the exit. If we travel together we're more likely to be noticed. Watch out for security. Good luck!"

Good luck? Sarah felt like she was going to need more than luck as she sprinted off in the opposite direction from Amata. She was going to need a fucking miracle!


	3. Chapter 3 - Leaving the Vault

**I apologise for any spelling errors. I do try to correct them as I spot them on the proof read. Also, I apologise for any bits that look a bit odd. I sometimes use Italics to show things like information on notes etc but sometimes when the text is copied over to here, although it shows on the Doc Manager it doesn't on the actual story so... yeah. No idea how to solve that!**

-

Sarah had never felt more terrified in her whole life. People she had grown up with, people she cared about, were trying to kill her. They were genuinely trying to end her life! She'd naively thought that after leaving Amata that things wouldn't have been as bad as she'd made them out to be. Sure there was the wailing klaxons and all the radroaches... but would people try to harm her? Surely not.

How wrong she had been.

It couldn't have been more than a handful of seconds since she left Amata and her path had crossed with Officer Kendall's.

"There she is! Hold it right there!" He screamed at her as he raised his baton to strike her.

Sarah froze. She was like a rabbit caught in the headlights and she couldn't make her brain start processing what was about to happen. However, just as the baton came down to strike her across the face Officer Kendall was swarmed by Radroaches from behind. They bit and scratched at his legs and used each other to start crawling up his body. Sarah just stared at the scene unfolding in front of her. Normally radroaches were no trouble, swat it and it was done. However, get a few of them together and it becomes a problem. Have a lot of them... and you're in trouble. It didn't take long for his screams to become panicked as more of the putrid bugs bit at him, their wings giving off an ominous buzzing sound. Sarah felt her fingers grip at the baseball bat in her hands and tried to steady her breath. Her breaths were ragged and loud, she sounded scared even to her own ears. One moment she had been staring up into the twisted face of hatred of Officer Kendall and now she was staring down at unseeing eyes upon the floor as the radroaches began to tear at any exposed flesh they could find. Her head spun. This could not seriously be happening.

"Oh my God..."

Pushing forward, Sarah made her way down the Vault's corridors as quickly as she could. The sound of someone yelling in front of her brought her attention back down to earth. She was so on edge she was convinced every little thing, every person, was going to try and end her. The voice sounded panicked though. It sounded terrified and it also sounded familiar. Slowly, placing one foot in front of the other and with her bat raised and ready to strike, Sarah made her way towards the voice.

"Oh my God! What do I do? What do I do?!"

It was Butch she realised. He was pacing outside of his own apartment door and was practically tearing his hair out with worry.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Before she could say anything, or even try to slip away, Butch looked up and caught sight of her.

"Sarah! Oh my God, you gotta help me! My mom's trapped in there with the Radroaches!" He practically flew to her. His large hands grabbed her by the shoulders and he pulled her close. The panic on his face couldn't have been any clearer if it tried to be.

"Y-you want my help?!" She managed to stammer out.

God why did he smell so good?! Why was she nervous of Butch when everyone else was trying to kill her and the one person who she thought would have been first in line to do the job was instead looking for her help.

"Please Sarah, you gotta help me".

She stared up into his blue eyes. He didn't look like he was lying. In fact he looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Okay Butch. Come on. Let's see if we can help her." Sarah tried her best to smile.

Butch let his head dropped and he shook it quickly.

"No, I can't go back in there. It's... it's dark, and there's radroaches."

Fucking Bull. The Tunnel Snake was afraid of radroaches?!

Sighing heavily Sarah tightened the hold on her bat.

"Don't worry, Butch. I'll get your mom out of there."

"Oh my God, thank you! I didn't know what to do!"

Butch pulled her into a tight hug, his face pressed tightly in at the side of her neck. She could feel his lips move against her skin as he thanked her. His warm breath making her cheeks blush,

"You're the best Sarah, honestly, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay Tunnel Snake, let go and let's go save your mom."

With that the two of them parted and Sarah turned to face the door to Butch's apartment. She'd taken down radroaches before. She used them as shooting practice but she didn't have many pellets so the bat would have to suffice. Never know when she might actually need to use the BB Gun...

Inside of the apartment was a mess and Sarah suspected it wasn't all to do with the radroach infestation. There were empty bottle everywhere. Wherever she looked there were bottle; on the shelves, on the tables, on the floor. They were everywhere. However, amongst the glass bottle graveyard, Sarah spotted Butch's mother cowering on the floor with radroaches attacking ever from every angle.

"She's not even trying to defend herself?!" Sarah thought to herself.

"Butchie!" Ellen cried out in pain. "Help me!"

Sarah took a deep breath. She could feel the panic taking hold again. There were four of the foul creatures. If she was careful she could take them each out quickly. Taking aim, Sarah raised her bat and brought it swiftly down upon the first radroach. There was a satisfying crunching sound as her bat made contact with the intended victim and Sarah felt the creatures insides splatted against her legs with the force of the hit. Again she raised her bat, trying not to vomit at what was now covering her lower half. Once more she brought down the bat and heard another wonderful crunching sounding.

Two more to go.

For a third time she raised the bat but the other two radroaches and clearly spotted what had happened to their brethren. With more speed than she thought they had, the two creatures made a beeline for her. Their little teeth chattering as they jumped and fluttered, trying to take her down before she took them down.

"Fuck!" Sarah cried out as she swung the bat wildly. It took several attempts but the bat finally found it's targets and the two beasts fell. Panting, Sarah leant against her bat which she'd propped on the floor. This was horrific! What on earth had happened to her home?!

Dad happened...

Behind her she could hear Butch rushing into the apartment and turning Sarah watched Ellen throw herself into her son's arms.

"Butchie! You're okay. Thank God!"

"Mom..."

Butch held his mother close, his hand cupped around her head protectively as she cried into his shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay Ma. Listen I need to talk to Sarah. Go into your room and don't come out until I tell you it's okay."

Nodding, Ellen made her way into the next room and left the two of them to each other.

"We did it. My mom's gonna be okay! Thank you. You're the best friend I've ever had, man!"

His smile reached right across his face. Sarah didn't have the heart to point out they'd never even been friends to start with. Nor did she point out that before the last few days they hadn't even spoken in over three years.

"Listen, I know it isn't much, but I want you to have my Tunnel Snakes jacket. Go ahead, take it."

His jacket was already off before he'd even finished speaking and Sarah wasn't given the option to refuse. He'd taken the bat from her hands and was helping slide the jacket over her slender arms. He stood back and examined her, smiling softly.

"I always wondered what you'd look like in my jacket.." he murmured.

Sarah felt her cheeks burn again and decided to pretend she hadn't heard him.

"Thanks Butch. This will give me a little extra protection."

It was true. The leather was thicker than she'd given him credit for and it was still warm from his body heat.

"I need to go."

Without looking at him she ran from the apartment, scared that if she looked at him again she'd break down. When you're enemy becomes one of your few allies what does that say about your situation?

That it's fucking shit.

Twisting through the corridors Sarah found little resistance. Sometimes she caught glimpses of the residents behind their glass windows banging on them and screaming at her. She never heard what they said but she could read the hatred in their faces with no problem. They wanted her gone.

Well no problem because soon she would be.

She could feel the hatred building in her gut. How could they all turn on her when she didn't even know what was going on?! Could they really blame her?!

As she bolted up the stairs and round a corner Sarah found herself almost face to face with Officer Gomez. She screamed and brought up her bat ready to swing.

"Sarah! Oh my God, thank goodness!"

Sarah had closed her eyes and hadn't even noticed. Had it been anyone else they probably would have taken advantage of that.

"S-Sir?"

The older man brought her into a tight hug. Officer Gomez was Freddie's father and she'd spent a lot of time around their family as her Dad had treated Freddie for his V.D.S.

"You're okay. You're okay. Thank goodness."

He pulled back and held her at arms length, looking over her gore and blood spattered state.

"You've certainly looked better."

Sarah couldn't help herself. She laughed. At first it was unintentional but as the sound escaped she felt something creeping up behind it in her throat. A sob. It was stuck in her throat but it was threating to spill out.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I've been better."

Officer Gomez nodded.

"You need to leave Sarah. Your Dad is gone and the Overseer thinks you know about it. It is not safe here. No matter what you see, no matter what you hear, you must not stop. You must go. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, I understand".

"Sarah." He stared straight into her eyes. His tired and wise hazel eyes baring into her. "Please, promise me that you understand and that you'll heed my words."

"I promise Sir. I will not stop, I'll keep going until I'm out. Thank you."

She flung her arms around the man, holding back the tears that threatened to spill.

"Thank you..."

With that she ran off leaving Officer Gomez to watch her form run off into the distance. The green snake on her back staring at him, taunting him. He'd tried so hard to keep that snake away from her... had he failed?

–-

Each corridor greeted her with more chaos. Radroaches littered the place and she almost had a panic attack after turning down one corridor to find it covered in flames from Andy trying to dose the roaches in flames. At one point she'd watch as two Vault residents tried to make a break for the exit themselves only to be gunned down by the Overseer's men. Sarah could barely take any more. After the guards had hauled the bodies off, dragging them by the legs like rag dolls, Sarah had vomited violently against the wall. That was her breaking point. She collapsed against the wall, not caring that she was kneeling in her own vomit, tears spilling down her face. Her pained cries filled the entire room until Officer Gomez' words came back to her;

Do not stop.

Rubbing her nose with her sleeve and using her hands to wipe away her tears she pressed forward. By now she was almost at the Overseer's office. She could hear people shouting and could hear them arguing from a room nearby. Pressing forward, crouching so they would not see her through the glass, she was almost home free when she heard a familiar voice inside.

"I told you. I don't know anything!"

That was definitely Amata's voice. Stopping in her tracks, Sarah tried to slow her breathing down and tried to move as little as possible.

"Please be reasonable Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this but I don't. Just tell us where to find your friend so we can talk to her."

That was definitely the Overseer but what on earth was Officer Mack enjoying?

Carefully, Sarah turned on the balls of her feet and peered carefully into the room next to her. Through the glass she could make out three figures. One was sitting on a chair, clearly distressed whilst two others loomed over them. It didn't take her long to realise Amata was the one on the chair and before Sarah could move Officer Mack and smacked her across the face with the back of his hand. The blow had been so hard the Amata was knocked clean from her chair. The Overseer, Amata's own father, did nothing. As Officer Mack loosened the baton from his belt Sarah didn't hesitate for a moment. Before she even really knew what she was doing she'd charged through the door and straight into Officer Mack, tackling him to the floor. The man cried out in surprise and before he could react Sarah had picked herself up, grabbed Amata and hauled the two of them out of the room.

Thank fuck for track practice!

The two girls fled into the next room and Amata jammed the lock sequence into the door behind them.

"Oh my God, Oh my God". Amata kept repeating over and over.

Sarah moved towards her friend and wrapped her into a hug from behind.

She could hear the fear in Amata's voice and the slight tremble in her shoulders showed how hard it was for her to keep everything together.

"We need to get you out of here. Now."

Sarah nodded and the two girls quickly made their way over to the Overseer's door. Without hesitating Sarah pulled out the bobby pins Amata had given to her and got to work on the door. As soon as it was opened Amata flew over to her Dad's terminal and started working on his computer.

Sarah took a moment to look around his office. She found some supplies in a locker that she might need and threw them into her bag. Checking out some of the terminals behind the main computer Sarah found a bunch of information that, under any normal circumstance, would have blown her mind. Turned out that the Vault had been opened before, the scouting parties went out regularly. One of the teams even had a leader with the same surname as Butch. Perhaps his Dad?

"Done it!"

Sarah turned to see Amata looking pleased with herself and the two girls jumped back as the floor beneath them began to shift to reveal a secret tunnel. Without hesitating the two of them quickly ran down the stairs that had been revealed and hurled themselves along the corridor. Once they'd reached the end of it Amata started working on the control pannel that Sarah knew would open the door to the outside.

Outside...

Sarah stared up at the large iron cast gear in front of her that was the door to... well to hell. She had no idea what the outside would be like. Was there even really an outside left? All she knew was that the bombs had fell years ago and that the world had bathed in fire. The klaxons started up even louder and a hissing was coming from the door. Sarah turned to look at Amata.

Her friend looked happy and sad at the same time.

"Sarah..."

Amata reached out and handed her a holotape from her pocket.

"I found it on Jonas. I think it's for you."

The two of them didn't need any more words. They'd been through so much. Sarah turned, her blonde hair swaying behind her as she made her way towards the now open door. Leaving everything she knew behind. Shots rang out behind her but they never reached her as she heard the giant door rolling back into place. The horrible tunnel she was in was cold and it was dank and she could just barely make out a wooden door in front of her. There were skeletons littered across the ground and Sarah felt her stomach flip. These poor people... they must had tried to reach the Vault as the bombs fell. Placing her fingertips upon the dry wooden door Sarah took a deep breath before she pushed the door opened. She was ready to face whatever was thrown at her.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Outside

**Apologies for any spelling errors.**

-

Oh my God the light!

Sarah had stepped through the door only to be greeted with the most piercing bright light she had ever seen. Everything was so bright that she had fallen onto her knees and threw her arms over her face. It took awhile but Sarah had managed to crawl her way back through the wooden door and into the cave. She gasped as her eyes were bathed in the dim light of her surroundings.

"This is where I'm going to die!" She wailed out loud.

Bursting into tears once more Sarah wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth upon the cold, dirty ground.

"I'm going to die in this cave and I'm never going to be able to find Dad!"

Eventually, with her tears all cried out, Sarah rubbed her eyes and glanced towards the wooden door. She couldn't wallow in this cave in self pity. Was she or was she not the daughter of Doctor James Crawford? Was she or was she not the only person in the Vault who would, on a regular basis stand up to the Overseer?! She was! Sniffing, she rose to her feet, rubbed her eyes one last time and moved in front of the wooden door. Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open ever so slightly. She took her time, letting her eyes get used to the light bit by bit. Once her eyes had gotten use to the light Sarah found the most incredible scenery laid out before out. Carefully she tip toed out from the doorway and moved towards what appeared to be the edge of a large overlook. Spread out before her was a rolling, broken and desolate landscape. In the distance she could see a highway standing far above the ground. It was broken and fallen apart, large blocks of cement looked like they were hanging on just barely. There were pockets of destroyed homes littering the landscapes from what she could see. Could people still be living in those homes? Sarah was overwhelmed. This was nothing like the Vault had ever described it as. They'd always been told that there was nothing left but mutated monsters and fire upon the land. For lack of a better word Sarah would say that it looked peaceful. Readjusting the grip on her bat Sarah tried to steel her determination. If Dad had left the Vault on purpose there must have been a reason for it. Making her way down the slope she headed towards the closest cluster of houses that she could see. Everything was so still and quiet. There were no creaks and clanks like in the Vault. Everything was uneven beneath her feet and the wind gently caressed her face. Wind. That was nothing like she'd expected expected it to be. She'd always thought it was going to be a hard and frighting experience but this was quite nice. She could feel her pony tail being caught in the breeze and it certainly helped her feel cooler. The little 'town' was larger than she'd thought it would be. There were little mailboxes with surnames printed along the side outside the homes and some of the names she recognized.

"Gomez... Mack... I wonder if these are the same families as in the vault?" She murmured.

From behind a loud fanfare startled her. Trumpets and drums blared and the music was growing louder and louder. Panicked, Sarah threw herself behind a barely vertical fence and peered out from behind the panels. A small round chunk of mental was bopping up and down through the air. It looked like something out of a Sci-Fi comic with it's large antennae and whirling gears. The music was obviously coming from the thing but it was the voice that unnerved her the most.

_"Did you know, there are those amongst us who would shatter our hopes for peace, order, and security? These radical malcontents don't care about you. They don't care about America! All they care about is fulfilling their own selfish desires.."._

What on earth?

_"Let's take a tally of these agitators, shall we? There are, of course, the raiders. Those anarchistic ruffians who roam the wastes, preying on any and all, stealing, murdering..."_

Bull.

Fucking bull! There were people running around like that and here she was strolling through the houses as if she was on a picnic! Taking in the sites, reading mailboxes. Sarah gripped her bat and glanced around her as if these people were likely to be lurking behind her at this very moment.

_"The so-called "Brotherhood of Steel" Now, don't be fooled by their pseudo-knightly nonsense or supposed connections to the United States of America. These... power-armored boy scouts are nothing more than common criminals with access to some antiquated technology. Criminals who have had the audacity to claim this country's most important military installation, The Pentagon, as their own personal clubhouse! And don't be fooled, America. Those who have left the Brotherhood of Steel, branded, The Outcasts are just as dangerous; even more so, being in exile. And what about the slavers of Paradise Falls?..."_

Sarah felt that horrible overwhelming feeling in the pit of her stomach again. Her breath was catching in her throat and she was no longer gripping her bat, she was hugging it. She was practically curled up on the ground in the foetal position as the weird metal thing bobbed by her, the eerie voice no longer reaching her ears as she gave in to the panic attack which was consuming her.

Slavers.

Brotherhood of Something.

Raiders.

Bull.

God only knows how long passed before Sarah managed to pull herself from her hyperventilating party she'd clearly been reluctantly invited to. How on earth was she suppose to survive this? How was she suppose to find her Dad when it sounded like the whole world was going to be out to get her. Slowly, her brain began to turn. If there was a man on that robot talking about the dangers and warning people then perhaps there was good out here too. Perhaps she could find him? Where she would start she had no idea.

Eventually she managed to crawl from her hiding spot and started to climb her way up the expansive dirt track leading from the town. She'd spotted a makeshift sign with the word 'Megaton' written upon it. Praying she found her Dad there Sarah moved across the baren landscape. A small, blonde and pale dot in the dying dirt around her.


	5. Chapter 5

Sarah's own imagination could never have prepared her for the sight that was Megaton. It looked as if someone had taken a pile of scrap and garbage, threw it down in a tantrum and then trampled all over it. The robot outside looked ridiculous and Sarah didn't have her hopes set high. Anywhere that dressed a robot up like a cowboy surely couldn't be good news. As the massive fans on either side of the entrance whirled the entrance slowly creaked opened and Sarah was greeted with a sight she'd never have expected. A bustling town met her on the other side. As she moved through the entrance she could see people trading, what looked like stores were set up and seemed to be made of the same bizarre scrap metal as everything else. She could hear children laughing somewhere and people were chatting all around her. Before she could move any further into the town Sarah heard a slight cough from behind her. Turning she caught sight of a very tall man behind her. He was decked out in what looked like a Duster jacket that had seen better days. His face was speckled with scars and his eyes looked hard and cold. Sarah could feel the panic building inside again.  
The stranger appeared to be giving her the one over. His hat reminded Sarah of the old cowboy holotapes they had seen in the Vault and part of her wanted to know where he'd gotten it from. Why was he staring at her like that? Was she not allowed in? Maybe she should have waited before walking through the gates but, they'd opened for her hadn't they?

Shit.

Maybe the robot had malfunctioned? Did it control the gate?

Before the stranger could open his mouth Sarah was already starting to back away from him.

"The robot let me in. I swear I didn't break in. Please don't send me back out there!"

Sarah had been expecting the stranger to throw her out. To yell at her for trespassing. What she did not expect was him to laugh at her. His laugh was a deep rumbling chortle that sounded just as surprised she felt.

"Well I'll be damned. Another new comer! Name's Lucas Simms, stranger. I'm the town sheriff and the mayor too, when the need for one arises." He tipped his hat at her before continuing. "I don't know why, but I like you, girlie. Something tells me you're all right. So, welcome to Megaton. It's not much but it's ours. See to it that you respect it."

Bobbing her head in reply Sarah managed to stutter out a greeting. It wasn't much as she was still trying to keep her stomach contents within her stomach. Simms just laughed again at her.

"You make sure to treat my people and my town right and I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Now, is there anything you need help with?"

Help.

This Sheriff was going to offer her help?

All thoughts of how ill, scared and frightened she felt fled Sarah in that one singular moment of hope. She rushed towards Simms, her shaking hands reaching out to grasp his own. They were rough and calloused in comparison to her own.

"Yes! Oh, God yes! I'm looking for my father. Middle aged guy. Maybe you've seen him? He's probably decked out in clothing similar to mine. Oh, but he'll have his lab coat too. He never goes anywhere without it."

"Nope, sorry. I get enough fires to put out in this place that I don't have time to keep tabs on every visitor. I'd ask around town though. Sorry kid."

Bull.

Fucking bull!

The little spark of hope that had filled Sarah, however momentarily, was snuffed out quicker than one could blink. It felt like a little piece of her had shattered.

"Oh. Okay. Where should I start?" She asked, her eyes locked firmly on the hardened and cracked dirt beneath her feet.

"Well, there's a clinic down by the crater, you can't miss it, big bomb sitting in the middle. Doc Church is a little rough around the edges but he'll patch you up quick."

Sarah nodded slightly, still not meeting Sims gaze.

"There's also Moira who runs Craterside Supply. She sells weapons, armour and lots of junk. Just follow the signs and you'll reach her. You'll spot it not far from Moriarty's and well, that brings me to my last titbit of information for you kid. Moriarty is **not** your friend. Understand me? No matter what he says, no matter what he does, do not fall for his lies. Do not trust that man. Understand me?"

Sarah felt herself grow very cold listening to Simms talk. His words... They sounded scarily similar to Officer Gomez' words.

_"__You need to leave Sarah. Your Dad is gone and the Overseer thinks you know about it. It is not safe here. No matter what you see, no matter what you hear, you must not stop. You must go. Do you understand me?"_

Everyone was just telling her shit. No one was ever explaining it.

"Kid."

Sarah jumped back to reality with a start. Simms was snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"You okay? You zoned out."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine Sir."

Simms, apparently happy with this merely grunted in reply.

"You need anything else come see me. The common house across the way normally has a spare bed for travellers. I wish you luck finding your Dad kid."

With that Simms turned and left Sarah standing alone in the archway of the gates and feeling more alone that she had felt since this nightmare began.


	6. Chapter 6

"The bomb is **_active?!_**"

She gazed over at Moira in terror. Terror really wasn't even a good enough word to describe the feeling coursing through Sarah's veins.

"You have got to be fucking shitting me Moira! That bomb can't be active! There's a whole fucking town built around it! Who in their right mind would do that?!"

"It's fine. Fine, fine, fine. What's a better deterrent to some mean old raiders than a nasty big ol' bomb eh?" Moira chirped back in, what Sarah thought was supposed to be a reassuring tone.

"Aren't you worried that someone might, oh I don't know... set it off?"

Moira merely brushed off her concern with a wave of her hand.

"No, it's not happened before so why should it now? Anyways, we were talking about you selling some of your supplies to me weren't we? I know that bomb is interesting but you can't go distracting me from the treasure you've got in that back pack!"

Rolling her eyes Sarah humphed her back pack onto the counter to let Moira take a look. It ended up that most of what Amata had packed for her was going towards 'money' for her survival. It wasn't real money. Not like she'd seen in the books in the Vault or in the old holotape movies. No, it was caps from bottles. Weird. Spare jumpsuits, the BB gun and pellets and a bar of soap were all traded for around 80 of the little caps. Moira had seemed overly excited about the bar of soap. Amata had put quite a few in so she could part with one right? It was just soap.

"What about that nice jacket you've got on hm? It looks in good condition and that leather looks thick. I could easily offer you another 150 caps just for that. It's quite unusual."

150 caps? Even with only being in the Wastelands for around a day Sarah still knew that wasn't to be sniffed at. She was sure that could get her far. And yet...

Moira was looking at her expectantly, hopeful even.

Sarah shook her head.

"Nah, sorry. It's not for sale. Tunnel Snakes rule you know?"

Moira just smiled at her in that dotty way that she always does.

"I don't no, but if you change your mind you know where I am!"

-

With her back pack considerably lighter, and her pockets substantially fuller, Sarah made her way towards Moriarty's. She's been told not to trust him by a few people in town now. Many of those people had called him a rat. Well, that was fine because Sarah knew exactly what rats were afraid of. Snakes. Popping the collar on the leather jacket, she took a deep breath to steady herself. She could do this. It was just information. She could totally do this. Pushing open the door to the bar the first impression that Sarah got was that it was considerably darker than the other buildings that she'd be in. Whilst Moira and Jenny had installed windows in their buildings it appeared that Moriarty liked to keep it dark. And dank. It smelt disgusting, like someone had pissed in the corner and not bothered to clean it up. Glancing round at some of the patrons Sarah decided that perhaps that wasn't too far from the truth. Most were tucked away in corners, nursing their drinks or talking quietly with a companion. It wasn't anything like she'd thought a bar would be. Spotting a figure behind the bar, his back to the door and cleaning glasses, Sarah guessed that must be Moriarty. Trying to instil confidence in her stride that she knew she didn't really feel on the inside Sarah hopped up onto one of the bar stools and waited for Moriarty to turn around. He didn't. Nor did he turn around when she casually cleared her throat.

Fucking bull.

This prick was deliberately ignoring her!

Deciding to take a slightly different approach, one that Sarah was sure would have Amata cursing her three ways to Sunday, spotting one of the freshly cleaned glasses on the counter she reached across and ever so gently pushed the glass over the edge. This caught his attention. Quick as whip the man turned around to face the noise. Except this, was no man. Every horror movie those idiot boys in the Vault had ever made her watch came flooding back to her mind in one motion. Where there should have been a nose, there was nothing. Where full and healthy cheeks should have been, there was only exposed muscle tissue and teeth. Eyelashes? Gone. Hair? Almost entirely gone. His flesh looked pale and clammy and the man's eyes had a milky whiteness to them that made Sarah think of sight that shouldn't be able to see.

This was a zombie.

Shit hit the fan hard.

Letting out a scream Sarah tried to push herself as far away from the zombie as she could except there was only one problem. She was still perched upon the barstool. Or rather, she had been. With a resounding crack her head hit the steel floor below. Her whole world was spinning and Sarah was certain she could taste iron in her mouth. Yet despite the world spinning, the zombie span into view along with everything else.

"Gah! Fuck! What-How-Why are you alive?! How are you alive?! No one told me Moriarty was a fucking monster!"

The milky white eyes widened slightly at her outburst. In a voice so gravelly it sounded like he'd been smoking for half a century he replied.

"I'm not Moriarty. He ain't here right now."

This information caught Sarah by surprise. Not Moriarty?

"Blue jumpsuit. I'm guessing you crawled out that vault up the hill? New to the wasteland?"

Sarah could only nod, although doing so made her head ache something awful.

"I'm a Ghoul, kid. Not a zombie. Just thought you should know. Not that it matters. I'm used to every asshole in this town giving me shit just cause I look like a corpse."

A Ghoul? _Looks_ like a corpse?

"Does... Does that mean you're still technically human?" She asked as she pulled herself back off the floor and onto the stool once more. Her hands firmly holding onto the counter thank you very fucking much.

"Yeah. Like I said, doesn't matter though. I don't expect you to be any different."

HE had already returned to cleaning glasses, the rag he was using looked particularly nasty. Sarah made a mental note never to drink out of anything but a bottle in this place.

"I'm sorry I was a bitch." She tried. "Like you said, crawled out of a hole in the ground and this is all so new to me. Like, have you seen the sky?! I'm kind of scared that I'm suddenly going to fall into it. There's no end!" Sarah was gesturing widely at the ceiling, he was trying not to laugh. Nice smoothskins were never nice for long.

"Also, I didn't even **know** there was a here either. In the Vault we're taught there's nothing but fire and death up here. What do I find? A town. How fucking normal is that?" She was trying to make him laugh but he didn't even twitch. Sighing, Sarah took out some caps from her pocket.

"Look, I'm sorry alright? I really am. Let's start anew yeah? I've just gotten caps and I've never bought anything before, no money needed in the vault, so let me buy both of us something to drink. Um, preferably in a bottle though yeah?"

He just stared at her.

"You want to buy me a drink? You're lying."

"No! I'm not Mor- wait. You said you weren't Moriarty. Who are you?"

He hesitated just a moment before, very quietly, he replied.

"Gob. My name is Gob."

Sarah grinned in delight. Gob decided she really was very pretty, even for a smoothskin. Her hair looked shiny and new all tied up in her pony hair, there were freckles on her pale skin and speaking of her skin... From what he could see it looked flawless. The wasteland hadn't reached her yet. He supposed it would take time. She had big blue eyes that held a tad too much innocence to be out here he felt. Her teeth were so amazingly white he couldn't believe it. When was the last time he'd seen white teeth? He couldn't remember. The kids of the wastes didn't even have white teeth.

"It's lovely to meet you Gob. I'm Sarah. Now, do you have Nuka Cola up here? I'm pretty certain I'd murder someone for some Nuka!"

Gob glanced at her nervously.

"Yeah... I've seen people kill for less smoothskin."


	7. Chapter 7: On the Road

h2 class="western"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" emI apologise if I've missed any errors. I write this for fun. For me. I stopped for along time. Stopped all my stories... life got in the way. I miss writing. I'm going to make a concious effort to get back into it. It always made me happy. If you like it too then /br /em- /span/span/span/h2  
h2 class="western" /h2  
h2 class="western"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" The nights in the Wastelands were what Sarah hated the most. The way it went from stupidly bright to pitch black scared the living hell out of her. Especially when there was absolutely /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"nothing/span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" to do in Megaton. Unless you ran an establishment you just milled around. Sarah didn't like that. Her little parlour hadn't been much in the Vault but it gave her some damn purpose. Up here... she did nothing. She was nothing. When Lucy West approached her about a favour, something about not being able to visit her family, Sarah jumped at the chance to do something. A /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emstrongpaid/strong/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" something of course. Okay so maybe she wasn't getting paid in caps per say... Lucy had used all her money buying herself a house in Megaton, but she would be getting paid in equipment. There had been some bullshit about Lucy's father paying her but Sarah was having none of that. No way. It was agreed that when she made it back that Lucy would give Sarah one of her weapons. A shotgun to be exact. The gun that Amata had gave Sarah as she was escaping the Vault had come in really handy out here but it wasn't going to take down some of the bigger threats in the Wastelands. A shotgun however... that was some pretty sweet business right there. Lucy had even promised to teach her how to use the thing. All in all a good score Sarah felt. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"The place Sarah was travelling to was north-west of Megaton, apparently not far, named Arefu. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She'd actually been surprised to learn that there were quite a few settlement out there in the Wasteland. She kinda felt like she shouldn't have been surprised, if Megaton was thriving why wouldn't the rest of the world be? There were loads by the sounds of it; Megaton (obviously), Arefu, Rivet City, Big Town, Tenpenny Tower and /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"so on. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Sarah was actually really glad to get out of Megaton. Not that she didn't like it there, the people were nice enough, it was just a little overwhelming. Simms had arranged for some of the residents to explain to her how things worked. Jenny Stahls had taught her how to value to junk they'd scavenged from Springvale and Moira had even taught her some basic weapons and armour maintenance. However, what she appreciated the most was that Stockholm, the town's sniper, had gone out of his way to teach her how to defend herself. He'd spotted her .10mm and had asked if she knew how to handle it. She confessed to not even knowing how to take the safety off. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"So with a couple of lessons Stockholm decided that he was happy enough that she'd at least damage a threat and sent her on her way telling her she'd learn the rest as she went. Sounded fucking dangerous and chancy to Sarah but /br / The journey had been much longer than Sarah had anticipated. Despite her newly acquired 'skills' in the art of 'point the gun at it and pray to God it fucking dies!' Sarah had spent a good deal of her time so far cowering on the ground. She'd never admit it to her friends, were they her friends? She guessed Gob was but she wasn't sure about the rest yet, she was still struggling to adjust to life in the Wastes. What did they expect? That she'd adapt instantly and it'd be a breeze to suddenly live where the temperature and light changes as it pleases? More often than not if Sarah heard something; a bark, a shout, whatever, she'd hide behind whatever was available until the threat had passed. That was how she'd found herself stuck in the situation that she was now in. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She'd clocked the sound of gunshots first and then she'd spotted the movement just ahead of her. What Stockholm had taught her immediately clicked in. br /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;""Find yourself some good cover first Kid. You gotta make sure that you're protected yeah? Then you wanna try and take them out before they even see you. With enough practice you'll manage even with that pea shooter of yours!"br /br /span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"There was only one problem. Whilst Stockholm's lessons did kick in, so did her panic attack. She'd been having these a lot. Sarah would be concerned about it but so far she didn't really want to address it. She was alive wasn't she?! That was good enough for her. As she dove behind a mound of rubble and dirt for protection her eyes spotted that there was what looked like an old sewage pipe just barely sticking out of the ground. It looked large enough for a person to hide in...br /br /Stockholm's lessons...br /br /Panic attack...br /br /She gave in to the panic attack. br /Heart racing, Sarah managed to crawl her way over /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"to/span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" the pipe and squeezed /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"herself/span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" inside. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"It was dank, it was disgusting and it smelt vaguely of what Sarah could only describe as death itself. She'd expected the fight to move on, for the parties to kill one another. No. They seemed to be drawing closer and closer to her hiding spot. br /br /Fucking bull!br /br /This was /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"strongnot/strong/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;" supposed to be happening. Go away. Go away. Go away! She could no longer hear gun fire but she could hear laughter, she could hear taunting and...whimpering? It didn't sound human /br /"Did you see how he hit the dirt when Regie clipped his ankle! Thought I was gonna fucking die laughing. Mother fucker went down face first!"br /br /What the hell? br /br /There was a resounding thumping noise then more /br /"Ji, will you shut up! Why are you always so peppy?" That was a female's voice. The first had been male. How many were there? What was that horrible whimpering noise?! Sarah tried to cover her ears but she could still hear it! It was like it was piercing her soul. That little piece of her that she was already convinced was broken. It was going to shatter further she just knew it. She needed that noise to fucking /br /"Aw come on Rhona, you know you liked it too. I heard you laugh!" That was the voice she'd heard first. What had the girl, Rhona, called him? Ji? "And quit kicking the dog! It aint gonna taste good if the meat is all stringy from being damaged!"br /br /A dog? That's what the whimpering was? A dog? Sarah had never seen a real dog before. br /br /"Will you two hurry up and get the hell over here eh?! I need to put a bullet between the mutt's eyes before we head back. You two are a shit shot. Probably ruin half the body before it's dead." Shouted a third man, presumably Regie. br /br /Why did the dog have to die? Because it couldn't defend itself? Sure it had teeth, she knew that from pictures from the Vault, but that didn't make it a fare bet. br /br /Another little piece inside her broke, splintering from where it should be. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She could get these monsters./span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Propelling herself forward Sarah forced herself out of the pipe and propped herself up against the dirt mound and lined her shot, just like Stockholm had taught her./spanbr /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;""Remember to breath Kid. Look down the barrel and release the trigger as your breath out. Always helped me when I help my first gun".br /br /Sarah did what he said... and missed the bottle she was supposed to be shattering. Stockholm smacked her up the back of the /br /"If that bottle were alive and vicious you'd be dead right now! Try. It. Again." br /br /span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;""You can do this." She muttered to herself. br /"Just breath... forget that they can shoot back. /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"Forget that it'll hurt to you know... die."br /br /Trying to stop her hands from shaking Sarah lined up her shot. The monsters weren't far away. The female, Rhona, was going to be her best bet. It only took a moment but before Sarah really knew what was happening Rhona was lying face down in a pool of her own blood, bleeding profusely from her neck, and Ji was running straight for her. He was significantly taller than what Sarah was and considerably bulkier too. As Ji threw himself over the dirt mound and on top of Sarah his fists started to /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"Thump. /span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /Into her gut. br /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"Thwack. /span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"br /br /Into her /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;" /br /span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;"She was certain that was a rib. The pain was horrific. When Ji had tackled her she'd been so surprised that she'd dropped her gun. There was no way Sarah was getting this man off her with strength alone. With two hands wrapping around her neck Ji grinned down at her. His eyes were blood shot and he was missing several teeth. His thumbs were pressing into Sarah's windpipe slowly and she suddenly realised he was enjoying this. No matter how much she clawed at his hands Ji was not letting go. Sarah's vision was starting to grow dark around the corners of her eyes and she could feel a tightening in her /br /"You fucking bitch!" Ji spat at her. "You just shot my girlfriend! Do you know what you did?!" br /br /Ji pressed into her windpipe harder. br /br /"Do you?!" He screamed. br /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"spanspan style="font-weight: normal;"Sarah resigned herself to the sensation of dying. She was starting to go numb from lack of air. It hurt yeah but... it would be over soon. She could barely see Ji any more. She could however hear the growling. Was he growling? The pressure suddenly disappeared from her chest and Ji's hands were no longer wrapped around her neck. Sweet air! She coughed and spluttered but Sarah drank in that air like there was nothing better in the world. Glancing slightly she caught site of Ji. He was currently trying to fight off a rather large, shaggy and snarling mass of teeth and claws. He wasn't successful. Sarah had to look away as the dog's teeth made contact with Ji's throat. She was tired of blood. It made her shake. Everything up here made her fucking shake. Taking a quick look around for any sign of the third monster Sarah decided that she could move on. She didn't know where he'd gone to but she didn't care. With careful steps she started moving forward, fixing her ponytail as she went. There were footsteps behind her. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Shit! Did she miss him?! /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Swinging round, gun held straight, shaky but straight, Sarah aimed at the noise behind her. /spanbr /span style="font-weight: normal;"It was just the dog. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"It was covered in Ji. It's muzzle was stained red and she was pretty certain the thing she could see dangling from it's teeth was part of Ji's torn flesh. She was gonna vomit. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Go on. Shoo. They're gone. Dead. You're covered in one. Go back to your home yeah?" She motioned for the dog to leave. She had no idea if it understood her. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Go on!" /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"It just whimpered. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Sarah rolled her eyes. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Seriously, you're safe. Got a family yeah? Time to go to them!"/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"The dog woofed at her and turned to race back towards where Sarah was sure the fire fight had broken out. There was something on the ground. The dog turned to her as if to say /span/span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emspan style="font-weight: normal;"'Well?'/span/em/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span style="font-weight: normal;". She jogged over, contemplating if she'd officially lost her marbles if she was listening to a dog, when she spotted what was on the ground. It was a body. The dog pawed at the body and made little whimpering sounds at /br /br /span/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"strongOh./strong/span/spanspan style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"span br /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"This was the dog's family. Shit. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"The dog looked up at her. Sarah was convinced she could see the pain in it's eyes. Crouching down beside the creature she tentatively reached out the pat it's head. That's what you do right? She was sure she'd seen that in the books. As if sensing her hesitation the dog leaned it's head into her outstretched hand. Sarah had no idea what to do. She just crouched there ideally, scratching at the dogs head./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Well, I've lost my family too... Although Dad's not dead. I don't know for sure of course but I can just feel it. You could always, I dunno, partner up with me. I don't really know what I'm doing though. You may still end up dead." Sarah didn't know if she was saying this more to the dog or herself. The dog seemed to understand though. It barked excited and ran around her before jumping up and licking her face./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Aw sick! Gross! You're covered in fucking dead people!" Sarah screamed. She really did vomit this time. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"The dog seemed to think this was a good thing as it just ran through her vomit. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Fucking gross./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"As she watched the animal run around she clocked something around it's neck. As it approached her she reached out to see what it was. It seemed to be made out of what looked like an assortment of old belt and rope. Burned into the leather though was one word: Dogmeat. /spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""That your name huh? Dogmeat? Not a fucking cheery name is it?"/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;"Dogmeat just barked at her and walked through her vomit again./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: normal;""Your fucking gross you know that?" /span/span/span/span/h2 


	8. Chapter 8 - Arriving in Arefu

I'm really enjoying being back writing. Super dooper stress reliever. I hope you enjoy this story. Thanks for reading.  
I write for fun so I'm sorry for any errors I missed whilst checking over my work.

-

Having Dogmeat around was a massive help. Sarah felt that she didn't have to be constantly on edge as Dogmeat always spotted a threat before it saw them. She was even starting to think that dogs were actually a lot smarter than she had thought. After one particularly stressful day that involved; a molerat, a crazed wastelander and a bucket of what looked like human organs, Sarah was ready to close her eyes and pray to God that she never had to open them again. She hated feeling frail and helpless but that was how she felt out here in this God forsaken place. Sarah got the impression that Dogmeat knew this. As Sarah had hunkered down in the corner of one of the skeletal remains of a home, he'd lay curled in against her the whole night. Sarah didn't think the dog slept once that night. Every time she was pulled screaming from her nightmares, her throat raw from the sheer power of her terror, Dogmeat was there to lick her face calmly until she stopped crying and fell back asleep.

Eventually, the two of them reach Arefu and Sarah was shocked to discover the town wasn't so much a town as a cluster of homes built upon one really dodgy looking broken highway. Sometimes she felt that wastelanders were really fucking dumb. Not her house though so no point fretting. As she made her way up onto the bridge Sarah noticed a small burnt out farm house to her right. There was a small pile of dead animals in one of the pens. They looked like the old pictures of cows but... they had more than one head. God the wasteland was weird. A shot rang out and Sarah quickly pulled her gun from it's holster on her hip. Dogmeat, who had been up ahead, was by her side in a moment, the hackles on his neck standing on end and his teeth barred. Slightly ahead, almost hidden behind a raised mound of cement was a man. He was decked out in typical wastelander clothing but that wasn't what Sarah was interested in. His gun was trained straight at her head.

Fucking bull.

The man adjusted his goggles slightly and kept his gun trained on Sarah as her and Dogmeat made their way towards him.

"Hang on!" The stranger called out. "You're not one of them. I nearly blasted you in two! Get over here before you're spotted!"

This did not sound good. Not having to be told twice Sarah patted her leg, signalling Dogmeat to follow, and broke into a jog as she headed towards the man. As she reached his protective mound she was not expecting the stranger to grab a hold of her arm. His fingers felt cold and clammy wrapped around her wrist and his grip was too firm for her liking. Flashbacks of Ji's grinning face taunted her from her memories.

"Now, what the hell are you doin' all the way out here huh?!" The stranger questioned, his voice low but threatening.

Dogmeat growled from beside Sarah's legs, his gaze never leaving the stranger.

"I-I have this letter. It's from Lucy. Lucy West. It's for her family." Sarah managed to choke out. That horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach was there again. Was this always going to happen?!

"That's great, but I got bigger problems than being the town post office right now. The shit's about to hit the fan in this cesspool, and I don't think I can stop them."

Bull. Fucking. Shit!

What had she walked into?! Throwing her head around, as if she expected monsters to jump out at her at that exact moment, Sarah took in the area. It was quiet. Nothing seemed wrong.

"What kind of trouble? Is it Raiders? I ran into some on the way here..."

She was **not** going to think about Ji right now. So sir! He played a staring role in her nightmares as it was.

"Well at first they'd do the usual gang stuff. You know, break stuff and make a ton of noise, but they always kept their distance. The last time though... they went too far! Did you see that massacre at the entrance?! They kill all of our Brahmin! That's how we survive! Sell the milk and when one passes we even sell some meat. The rest we keep. Now we have nothing!"

Sarah just nodded. She really didn't want to get dragged into this.

"Look... you can call me crazy if you want..." He continued to talk. "but there is just something weird about those creeps. They've got weapons, I know I've seen them! Why don't they just attack us all already? Instead we're all stuck up here wondering if each day is our last. We're low on supplies and in all honesty we could really use some help." He looked at Sarah expectantly.

Aw man. She really did not want to get dragged into this bullshit. Reaching into her pocket she withdrew Lucy's letter and tried to smooth out the creases that had formed on the envelope.

"Um, listen. I'm just here to deliver this letter to the Wests. How about I finish this job first and maybe we can chat after yeah?" Sarah had absolutely no intentions of talking to this guy afterwards. As soon as the letter was in the hands of the West family she would vault over the side of the highway and into the murky and radiated water below if she had to. The man simply nodded.

"That would be fine. That would work into helping me anyway. I don't have time to check on everyone whilst I'm watching the entrance. If you keep check on Davis West, Karen Schenzy and Ken Ewers that would be appreciated. The Wests home is the farthest to the back. You can check on the others on your way to them."

Without missing a beat Sarah waved to the man and made her way towards the collections of houses. There was absolutely no fucking way she was checking in on anyone on her way through. She was not getting pulled into some piss parade she did not want to be apart of.

Reaching the home of the Wests Sarah rapped quickly on the door. The sooner this was over the better. Dogmeat was sitting beside her, watching as she rapped on the door again. Still no answer. Frowning, Sarah tried the handle of the door and was surprised to find that it was unlocked. Hesitantly, she pushed the door open and peered inside. The house was a mess. There was blood everywhere. It. Was. Everywhere. There were two bodies, presumably Mr and Mrs West, lying slumped over the bed but Sarah couldn't say what had killed them. There was simply too much blood for her to deal with. Someone had even written 'The Family' in blood on the wall.

Bull!

Nope, Sarah was done. Turning on her heels she fled out of the house and ran back to the man at the entrance as fast as her legs could carry her.

"The Wests..." She panted as she drew level with him. "They're dead. Mr and Mrs west are in like, a fucking pool of blood."

"Are you serious?! Oh my... The Family must have gotten them in the last attack. Wait, you said Mr and Mrs West? What about their boy? Ian? Did you see him?"

Sarah shook her head in reply. Definitely only two bodies drowning in a sea of blood.

"I bet The Family took him! I've caught their Leader talking to Ian down by the river before. Look, I know I have no right to ask..."

Oh no! Sarah knew where this was about to.

"No way! Nu uh! I am not going hunting for some lost little boy! I can't even look after myself! You see this jumpsuit? I have only just crawled out of my Vault a few weeks ago! I'm pretty sure if it weren't for this damn dog -" Sarah gestured wildly at Dogmeat who barked happily. "That I would be fucking dead by now! No. It's not happening."

The man reached up and took his hat from his head, ringing it between his fingers as he looked at Sarah.

"Please. He's not some little boy any more but the Wests were good people. Kind people. You've met Lucy already you know this. I know it's a lot but I cannot leave my post. I've got everyone else to watch over."

"No! I'm abso-" but she was cut off mid sentence as she was distracted by Dogmeat. The animal was gazing up at her, almost lovingly, and he barked once. He reached his paw out and placed it upon her leg as if to comfort her. Sarah suddenly realised she was shaking. She was hyperventilating again. Dogmeat barked again. Taking a deep breath Sarah tried to steady herself. Okay. She could think this through rationally. If Dad were here what would he say? What would he do? What would he want her to do?

Rescue the boy.

God dammit.

"Okay... I'll see what I can do. You owe me **hugely** though!" She barked as she jabbed a finger into the man's chest.

"Let's go Dogmeat."


End file.
